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In this guest episode of the podcast produced by CAAC partner Healing Heritage, principal investigator of Healing Heritage Dr. April Manalang delves into the profound experiences of Filipino nurses who served on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Featuring firsthand accounts, the episode highlights their immense sacrifices, the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on Filipino healthcare workers, and the resilience they displayed despite facing structural and cultural violence, including anti-Asian discrimination.Through intimate interviews, several nurses share their struggles, fears, and unwavering faith that helped them navigate the crisis. They reflect on the emotional toll, the feeling of invisibility despite their essential contributions, and the deep-rooted strength within the Filipino American nursing community. The episode also explores the critical role of faith, cultural identity, and advocacy in overcoming adversity.Join us for a moving and eye-opening discussion that honors the lives, sacrifices, and heroism of Filipino nurses—unsung warriors in the fight against the pandemic and social injustice.This podcast episode is produced by Healing Heritage in collaboration with the Religion, Race, and Democracy Lab at the University of Virginia.Photo by Hush Naidoo Jade Photography on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit caacptsem.substack.com

In this episode of the Dialogues Podcast, David Chao interviews Tommy Dyo, a leader in Asian American ministry with Epic, to discuss intergenerational trauma, family history, and faith. Tommy shares his personal journey of uncovering his Japanese American heritage, including his family's incarceration during World War II, his grandfather's experiences as a U.S. veteran, and the lasting impact of these historical injustices. He reflects on how growing up in a multicultural environment shaped his identity and how understanding his family's past transformed his approach to ministry.Photo by Bob Chambers on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit caacptsem.substack.com

Jen here today to share the audio of a recent coaching session from inside her group program all about the rules & norms we have permission to opt-out of in our business.If you feel overwhelmed by all of the noise and ‘should dos' and are craving doing business in a way that feels sustainable, joyful, and aligned for you - this episode is for you. And if you'd love to never do business alone again and join Jen inside Your Simple & Spacious Business: Doors are now open with early-bird pricing until Sunday 2nd February.Would you love some encouragement and support in your business? Submit your letter for an upcoming episode here.More from SaraMore from JenLetters From A Hopeful Creative is produced by Sonics PodcastsPhoto credit: Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lettersfromahopefulcreative.com

A quick check-in episode from Jen to share that Sara and I will be recording new episodes together soon if you'd love to submit a letter for an upcoming episode.And while you wait for new episodes you can listen to Jen's new mini private podcast series The Slow Business Sessions

This January on the 7am novelist we're interviewing authors about how they're sticking to their writing goals despite or maybe because of recent events and their thoughts not only about how other writers might do the same but also about how we might continue to affect change and support each other in both small and large ways.We're also holding a large Group-Write for our listeners. That's right, we're going to write together over zoom every weekday morning in January from 7 to 8:30 am EST and every Tuesday night from 7 to 8:30pm EST, starting Monday, January 6. We'll start each session with a few minutes of inspiration and sharing our writing goals on the zoom chat and end each session with turning on our mics and talking about what we accomplished. In between, we'll have those mics off as we write together. Feel free to come late to a session or only make one or two. No problem. We just want to see you there and support each other as we continue to work in the year ahead. If you're interested in joining, email me at 7amnovelist@substack.com and I'll send you the registration link. Subscribe to this Substack page at for updates about our January writing challenge and other news, events, and interviews.Thanks so much everyone. I hope to see you in January.Photo by Val Vesa on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

A Psalm for Christmas Eve: Sing to the Lord (Psalms 98, 99 and 100). View the Celtic Psalms Facebook page for clips of Advent Psalms to raise funds for our nonprofit, Celtic Pilgrims. Click here for our mashup of Sing to the Lord with the Wexford Carol. Read a winter reflection on my spirituality newsletter, Bless My Feet. I'm offering a new online course beginning in January: Habits for the Spirit - a way for us to stay rooted, nourished, and inspired in 2025. The course will be about habits and spiritual practices we can incorporate into our daily lives to promote wellbeing in body, mind, and spirit. There will be a prerecorded session for each of the 8 weeks, which you can view in your own time, in addition to optional weekly interactive sessions.Would this be something to sustain and inspire you in the New Year? If so, consider becoming a paid subscriber. I'd love it if you would join me as we find a way to shine our lights in the year ahead. Find out more about the courseThis course will be complimentary for paid subscribers until Jan 6th - Epiphany! After that, it will be available separately on my website. Psalms for the Spirit is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.*Lamp photo from Unsplash This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psalmsforthespirit.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, David Chao, director of the Center for Asian American Christianity, welcomes back psychotherapist Sangeetha Thomas, owner of Nepsis Counseling in Dallas, Texas. David and Sangeetha revisit key themes from their earlier conversation, including the challenging topic of death and loss, and expand on how individuals and communities can navigate mental well-being within a faith-centered framework. Join us as we dive deep into the intersections of mental health, faith, and the Asian American Christian experience. Sangeetha Thomas will be a plenary speaker at the 2025 Mental Health Conference "Navigating Transitions with Faith & Resilience: Asian American Mental Health Across Life Stages" on January 17–18, 2025. TW: brief allusions to suicidal ideation, pregnancy lossPhoto by Sven Brandsma on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit caacptsem.substack.com

This Advent, I'll be sharing four Psalms for the season leading up to Christmas. We may not think of Psalms during Advent, but they have been part of Advent liturgies for generations. Today's Psalm is Psalm 85: Love and Mercy. Pick up a free printable journal when you become a paid subscriber, or order a paperback version copy here. For a deeper exploration of this Psalm, listen to Ep. 11 with Paul Hutchinson. Paul will be a guest facilitator on our next Resilient Spirit 6-Day Retreat in May 2025. Read a winter reflection on my spirituality newsletter, Bless My Feet. I'm offering a new online course beginning in January: Habits for the Spirit - a way for us to stay rooted, nourished, and inspired in 2025. The course will be about habits and spiritual practices we can incorporate into our daily lives to promote wellbeing in body, mind, and spirit. There will be a prerecorded session for each of the 8 weeks, which you can view in your own time, in addition to optional weekly interactive sessions.Would this be something to sustain and inspire you in the New Year? If so, consider becoming a paid subscriber. I'd love it if you would join me as we find a way to shine our lights in the year ahead. Find out more about the courseThis course will be complimentary for paid subscribers until Jan 6th - Epiphany! After that, it will be available separately on my website. Psalms for the Spirit is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.*Lamp photo from Unsplash This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psalmsforthespirit.substack.com/subscribe

This Advent, I'll be sharing four Psalms for the season leading up to Christmas. We may not think of Psalms during Advent, but they have been part of Advent liturgies for generations. Read a winter reflection on my spirituality newsletter, Bless My Feet. I'm announcing a new online course beginning in January: Habits for the Spirit - a way for us to stay rooted, nourished, and inspired in 2025. The course will be about habits and spiritual practices we can incorporate into our daily lives to promote wellbeing in body, mind, and spirit. There will be a prerecorded session for each of the 8 weeks, which you can view in your own time, in addition to optional weekly interactive sessions.Would this be something to sustain and inspire you in the New Year? If so, consider becoming a paid subscriber. I'd love it if you would join me as we find a way to shine our lights in the year ahead. Find out more about the courseThis course will be complimentary for paid subscribers until Jan 6th - Epiphany! After that, it will be available separately on my website. To register your interest in this course, simply respond to this email saying “Interested!” and I'll add you to my list when I release more information in the coming weeks. If you become a paid subscriber before January 6th, you will be included automatically. Psalms for the Spirit is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.*Lamp photo from Unsplash This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psalmsforthespirit.substack.com/subscribe

The podcast, featuring Dr. Jonathan Tran and Dr. David Chao, examines recent developments in Asian American theology, highlighting its growing visibility alongside persistent challenges in penetrating mainstream theological discourse. Dr. Tran underscores the need to shift focus from dominant institutions to community-centered initiatives, recognizing the decline of interest in systematic theology and the importance of addressing generational dynamics within Asian American churches. He argues for a theology that integrates difference with shared foundations, using linguistic philosophy to illustrate the relational and contextual nature of faith. The discussion concludes with optimism about the creativity of Asian American Christians in shaping their faith journeys and the hope rooted in Jesus as an active agent of reconciliation and renewal.Photo by Andrew Seaman on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit caacptsem.substack.com

As I prepare to open my group program YS&SB for enrolment for the 8th time this month, in today's episode I'm sharing five ways that I'm experimenting with this upcoming launch and breathing some fresh energy and life into the process.Find out more about YS&SB Get my free deep dive kitGet my free toolkit 100 Hell Yes PeopleJoin me on SubstackListen to my other podcast Letters From A Hopeful CreativeYour Simple & Spacious Business is produced by Sonics PodcastsPhoto credit: Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit yoursimpleandspaciousbusiness.substack.com

In today's episode I share a pep talk for not spiraling if sales are slow in your business and share a recent example of selling a workshop in my own business where sales were very slow at the start. This episode is here to normalise the highs and lows of sales in our business and a reminder that we're not alone if sales are slower for a season or an offering in our work.How we can work togetherGet my free deep dive kitGet my free toolkit 100 Hell Yes PeopleJoin me on SubstackListen to my other podcast Letters From A Hopeful CreativeYour Simple & Spacious Business is produced by Sonics PodcastsPhoto credit: Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit yoursimpleandspaciousbusiness.substack.com

Tonight, Writers for Blue is offering a special opportunity to learn about writing your first pages. We'll have four award-winning authors, including myself, Aaron Hamburger, Nancy Johnson, and Pulitzer Prize-winner Jayne Anne Phillips, workshopping seven first-page writing submissions in support of electing Kamala Harris, our first female president—and our 47th. We'll also hear about ways you might use your words in the upcoming election cycle, including how to write politically-charged topics, canvassing, and more, from writers Charles Coe, Rishi Reddi, Daphne Kalotay, Julia Rold, and Gish Jen.   All of these authors have donated their time, energy, and talents in support of this event. We're hoping you might follow suit and consider donating to our Writers for Blue campaign. Go to writersforblue.com to get started. And, if you're looking for specific links and resources mentioned during the event, see below.AUTHORS FEATURED:Charles Coe, author of five books of poetry and one novel, teaches in the Newport MFA writing program, and is renowned both as a writer and a performer; we are honored to have him speaking as well as kindly reading aloud our sample pages.Aaron Hamburger is author of four acclaimed books of fiction, winner of the Rome Prize and a 2023 Lambda Literary prize; his new novel HOTEL CUBA has been featured on NPR; Aaron does political activism with Swing Left and is on the faculty at Stonecoast MFA.Author of nine acclaimed books, most recently a ‘best book' choice by the Oprah Book Club, NPR and the New Yorker, Gish Jen writes about charged issues with humor and heart, as in her latest collection, THANK YOU, MR NIXON.Nancy Johnson's acclaimed debut novel THE KINDEST LIE, was a New York Times Editor's Choice and Indie Booksellers choice; Nancy's also an Emmy-nominated award-winning journalist as well as author of the forthcoming 2025 novel, PEOPLE OF MEANS.Daphne Kalotay is the author, most recently, of the story collection THE ARCHIVISTS, winner of the Grace Paley Prize, a Boston Authors Club “Notable Book” and long-listed for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize and Massachusetts Book Award. National bestselling author of NIGHT SWIM and WOMEN IN BED; Jessica Keener is the Co-Chair with Randy Susan Meyers and, from the start, the driving force of Writers for Blue.From the iconic story collection BLACK TICKETS through 6 more indelible books of fiction to her 2024 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, NIGHT WATCH Jayne Anne Phillips is—as Caroline Leavitt said on A Mighty Blaze—‘everyone's literary heroine.'Rishi Reddi is the PEN New England award winning author of KARMA AND OTHER STORIES and the novel PASSAGE WEST; when not writing, she is an environmental lawyer and lobbies for sound climate policy in her day-job. Julia Rold is a writer, playwright and Novel Incubator alum who has worked on political campaigns in Massachusetts, NH, NY, Florida, and her home state of Kentucky.LINKS TO RESOURCES:DIRECT LINK TO WritersForBlue DONATION PAGE.WRITERS FOR BLUE website: https://writersforblue.com/Our partners:WRITERS FOR DEMOCRATIC ACTION (WDA)A MIGHTY BLAZEMarkers for Democracy: https://markersfordemocracy.org/postcarding (get out the vote cards to Democratic voters. has a monthly writing bootcamp online)Swing Blue: https://swingbluealliance.org/ (coordinating with Working America on postcard campaign focused on Healthcare for independent voters in PA)VoteForward: https://votefwd.org/instructions (letter-writing you can download yourself. Excellent examples of positive, nonpartisan "let's go vote!" messages)More suggested messages (specifically for postcards to swing state voters), stats to support the effort, and ways to order postcards: https://turnoutpac.org/If folks are interested in supporting Dems in Arizona, Wednesday night at 7pm ET, my Swing Left group is hosting an Arizona Zoom Fundraiser. Sign up here. Door-to-door canvassing resources.Canvassing in NH:  https://www.mobilize.us/massdems/event/627702/Canvassing in PA: https://www.mobilize.us/2024pavictory/event/645465/https://www.31ststreet.org sends out weekly emails with canvassing, donating, phone banking, and letter writing opportunities. Sign up!One way of targeting critical races is to think about donating to Crimson Goes Blue. It's a Harvard group, but don't be put off by that! They do great research, and their record in giving to races that turned out to be super tight, and where money made the difference is impressive. Highly recommended! Here's a Slide with a lot of resources about door-to-door canvassing.  LISTS OF AND INFO ON BANNED BOOKS:https://socialjusticebooks.org/booklists/banned-books/SWING LEFT: VOLUNTEER IN A VARIETY OF WAYS— LETTER-WRITING, POST-CARDING, CANVASSING, PHONE-CALLING and MORE for DEMOCRAT CANDIDATES UP AND DOWN THE BALLOT:PEN AMERICA, sponsoring many activities such as WRITING LETTERS to free political prisoners around the world and teaching writing in prisons; also programs addressing online abuse and misinformation:Photo by sydney Rae on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

In today's episode I share why I still believe in the magic of long-form content in my business and why writing newsletters and recording podcast episodes is still where I prioritise the majority of my marketing energy in my work. I share why I'd rather reach less people at a slower and gentler pace rather than trying to hack an algorithm and people's attention spans, and why I trust this approach to marketing as it's served me very well for a decade now. I'm hosting a workshop on Tuesday 24th September to support you to revitalise your marketing plan

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Today, we hear from listeners Lesley Téllez, Kathy Tully, and Elaine Durbach for the last of this summer's “Listener Roundups.” We hear about what they've learned from the past few episodes, what ideas they consider the most important, what questions or confusions they have, and their own advice and/or experience in dealing with the same issues. REMINDER OF OUR SPECIAL ZOOM EVENT on September 23. This is a chance for seven lucky listeners to have the first page of a piece of prose workshopped by myself as well as the authors Nancy Johnson, Aaron Hamburger, and Pulitzer Prize winner Jayne Anne Phillips. It's also a great chance for everyone who registers to learn about what makes a first page work and strategies for how to improve their own. All those who register will receive a full recording of the event. We'll also be hearing from Charles Coe, Gish Jen, Rishi Reddi, Julia Rold, and Daphne Kalotay about how writers can “Use Your Words” in the upcoming election cycle and more. The event is entirely free but we're running it support of what we hope will be our first female president, Kamala Harris. Find out more at writersforblue.com.  Watch a recording here. This audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.Mentioned in this episode: Philip Gerard's essay “Architecture of Light: Structuring the Novel and Story Collection” from Checkoway's Creating Fiction, Story Press, 1999. Steve Almond's “How to Write Sex Scenes Without Shame” from his craft book Truth is the Arrow, Mercy is the Bow, Zando, 2023.To find books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Lesley Téllez, a writer based in Mexico City, is a former journalist, food writer, and cookbook author, now working on a novel about Mexican food and assimilation.Kathy Shiels Tully is a freelance writer in the Boston area who, despite an insidious case of Imposter Syndrome, has written about people, food, travel, business, plus essays, in publications including: The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, The Christian Science Monitor, The Writer, the Erma Bombeck Writing Workshop, and recently, her own “Tiny Love Story” in The New York Times. Elaine Durbach, the Zimbabwean-born, New Jersey- based author of two non-fiction books and three self-published novels, was a fact-obsessed journalist for 45 years before discovering the joys of making it all up. Photo by Sammie Chaffin on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Today, we hear from Jamie Quatro whose latest novel, TWO-STEP DEVIL, releases in September. We're talking to Jamie about experimenting with form.Sorry! There's no audio/video version of this episode available. Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find Quatro's debut and many other books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Jamie Quatro is the New York Times Notable author of I Want to Show You More, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award and the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Prize, and Fire Sermon, a Book of the Year for the Economist, San Francisco Chronicle, LitHub, Bloomberg, and the Times Literary Supplement. HER new novel, Two-Step Devil, is forthcoming from Grove Press in September 2024, to be followed by a story collection, Next Time I'll Be Louder. A finalist for the Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction, she is the recipient of fellowships from MacDowell, Yaddo, Bread Loaf, and Maison Dora Maar in Ménerbes, France, where she will be in residence in the spring of 2025. Quatro holds an MA in English from the College of William and Mary and an MFA in fiction from the Bennington College Writing Seminars. She teaches in the Sewanee School of Letters MFA program and lives with her family in Chattanooga, Tennessee.Photo by National Library of Medicine on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Today, we hear from Ann Hood whose latest novel, THE STOLEN CHILD, was released in May. We're talking to Ann about writing multiple points of view, introducing a new point of view late in the structure of a book, and how to increase emotional tension in scenes.Watch a recording here. This audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find Hood's latest and many other books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Ann Hood is the author of over a dozen novels, including the bestsellers The Knitting Circle, The Obituary Writer, The Book That Matters Most, and Somewhere Off the Coast of Maine; and several memoirs, including the bestsellers Kitchen Yarns: Notes on Life, Love and Food and Comfort: A Journey Through Grief, which was named one of the top ten books of 2008 by Entertainment Weekly. Her most recent book, The Stolen Child, a novel about art, secrets, love lost and found, and the nature of forgiveness set partially during the First World War was published in May. Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Today, we hear from Crystal King whose latest novel, IN THE GARDEN OF MONSTERS, releases in September. We're talking to Crystal about writing about real people, particularly really problematic people, as well as familiar stories and places.Watch a recording here. This audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find King's debut and many other books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Crystal King is a novelist, culinary enthusiast, and marketing expert. Her writing is fueled by a love of history and a passion for the food, language, and culture of Italy. She has taught writing, creativity and social media at UMass Boston, Boston University, Mass College of Art, Harvard Extension School, and Grub Street. She's a Pushcart Prize–nominated poet and former co-editor of the (now defunct) online literary arts journal Plum Ruby Review.  She received her M.A. in critical and creative thinking from UMass Boston, where she developed a series of exercises and writing prompts to help fiction writers in medias res. She lives in Boston but grew up in the Pacific Northwest (Spokane, Seattle, Boise). She also works in the world of social media, AI, marketing, and community management. Photo by Enrica Tancioni on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Today we get to hear from Pagan Kennedy, whose newest book, The Secret History of the Rape Kit, will be released in January. Pagan and I will be talking about the ways in which contemporary events and your own past can disrupt what you thought your book was about.Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find Kennedy's book and many books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Pagan Kennedy is a journalist and author of eleven books, most recently Inventology: How We Dream Up Things That Change the World, which was optioned for adaption into a TV show and podcast, and The Secret History of the Rape Kit: A True Crime Story, which will be released by Vintage in January. She has also been awarded a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at MIT, an NEA fellowship, a Smithsonian fellowship, and two Massachusetts Cultural Council fellowships. She is a longtime contributor to the New York Times.  Photo by Jen Theodore on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Today, we've got another special “Listeners' Roundup” episode. This is when we get to hear from some of our listeners about they've learned from the past few episodes, what ideas they consider the most important, what questions or confusions they have, and their own advice and/or experience in dealing with the same issues in their writing. So today, we've got listeners Karen Gruzen, Stephen Dawley, and Nancy Crochiere talking with us about what they heard, what they loved, and how it speaks to their own work. Watch a recording here. This audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Karen Gruzen an avid 7am listener and graduate of GrubStreet's Novel Generator with Annie Hartnett, is writing a novel inspired by her time living in Japan, and joins us from Crested Butte, CO where she's busily revising her Save the Cat 5-part finale.Stephen Dawley is a lawyer living in CT who several months ago finished (and have started querying) the novel it took him ten years to write, and he's started another one.Nancy Crochiere is a former humor columnist whose comic debut novel, GRACELAND, published in May of 2023, was named a best book of summer by Parade, Woman's World, and Deep South Magazines. Photo by Mark Duffel on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Today we get to hear from Hesse Phillips whose historical novel, Lightborne, was released in May 2024. Hesse and I will be talking about the difficulties of writing queer history and the task of humanizing an historical figure that has often been mischaracterized and misunderstood by both the public and literary scholars.Watch a recording here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find many books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. For Phillips' debut, available from the UK, click here.Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Hesse Phillips' historical novel Lightbourne was a finalist in the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair 2022 and is now forthcoming from Atlantic Books UK. Their poetry and prose have appeared in The Bridport Review, the époque press é-zine, Sage Cigarettes, Roi Fainéant Press, Pangyrus and others, and have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Hesse was born and raised in rural Pennsylvania but now lives in Spain. They have a PhD in Drama from Tufts University and are a graduate of Grub Street Boston's intensive Novel Incubator program.Photo by Isi Parente on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Today, we hear from Shi Naseer whose debut novel, THE CRY OF THE SILKWORM, was released in June. We're talking to Shi/LILY about how to handle multiple timelines and settings in her book as well as how to write (or not) for a Western audience.Watch a recording here. This audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find Naseer's book, try Amazon/UK. To find books by our other authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Chinese-Australian-Pakistani author Shi Naseer has lived in nine countries and backpacked to over seventy. She recently moved with her husband and young son from Uppsala, Sweden, to Stamford CT, the USA, and spends her winters in Punjab, Pakistan. She aims to connect people by telling stories from different cultures. Her debut novel, The Cry of the Silkworm, was released in June 2024 with Atlantic Books/Allen&Unwin. A coming-of-age revenge story of a young girl in turn-of-the-century China, it reveals the devastating consequences of the one-child policy. Shi Naseer holds a PhD in theoretical physics from Harvard University.Photo by Muspi Merol on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Today's is a special bonus episode in which we get to hear from some of our listeners about they've learned from the past few episodes, what ideas they consider the most important, what questions or confusions they have, and their own advice and/or experience in dealing with the same issues in their writing. Welcome listeners and writers Cat Green, Carol Willis, and Judy Kessler.By the way, we still have one more spot for YOU to take part in a listener's roundup. If you're interested, email me at 7amnovelist@substack.com.Also, I'll be teaching at a writing retreat in the Himalayas this April and you're welcome to join. For more info, go to https://www.himalayanwritingretreat.com/event/international-retreat-with-michelle-hoover/ A few of the craft books mentioned in this episode:* David Jauss's chapter “From Long Shots to X-Rays: Distance and Point of View in Fiction” from his craft book Alone with All that Could Happen: On Writing Fiction* Robert Boswell's chapter “On Omniscience” from his craft book The Half-Known WorldWatch a recording here. This audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find all of my fave craft books plus books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Cat Green (they/them) is a graduate of GrubStreet's Novel Immersive for Queer and Trans Writers, and their debut hybrid chapbook, I Am Never Leaving Williamsburg, is out with fifth wheel press in February 2025.At age sixty, Carol Willis is a recovering physician with an MFA in Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and has published numerous short stories and written several novels, whose current work-in-progress is a contemporary midlife coming-of-age story, HERE COMES THE SUN. Judy Kessler retired from her career as a technical writer in 2015 to focus on fiction; since then she's drafted 2 novels (one complete, one in progress), published 2 short stories, taken MANY writing classes at GrubStreet and beyond, and volunteers at The Muse and the Marketplace and as a fiction reader for Pangyrus, a Boston-based literary magazine.Photo by Amber Kipp on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Today, we hear from Joseph Moldover whose second novel, JUST UNTIL, will be released in October. We'll be talking about the psychology of creative writing and the mental challenges of bringing a story or book to publication.Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find Moldover's latest and many other books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Joseph Moldover is the author of Every Moment After (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019) and of Just Until (Holiday House, October 29, 2024). He is also a clinical psychologist. He works with children and adolescents and specializes in learning and developmental challenges. He is the author of The Empowered Parent, a short guide for parents of children with special needs. He lives with his wife and four children outside of Boston, Massachusetts.Photo by Rey Seven on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Today, we hear from Alison Langley, whose debut novel, ILONA GETS A PHONE, was released in the UK in April. We're talking to Alison about the use of specific language, when to use scene vs summary, and what to do when readers misread your book.Watch a recording here. This audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find many books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. As a foreign correspondent, Alison Langley's stories appeared in The New York Times, Financial Times, Guardian and Deutsche Welle. She freelanced for The Wall Street Journal Europe in Budapest from 1990-94. That experience forms the backdrop of her first novel, Budapest Noir: Ilona Gets A Phone, now published by Dedalus Books, UK. It was a finalist of the Irish Writer's Centre Novel Prize 2022. Alison Langley is an avid gardener, mushroom hunter, and proud mother of three amazing adults. Langley lives in the Swiss Alps with her husband and dog.Photo by David Travis on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Today we hear from Shalene Gupta whose new book, THE CYCLE: Confronting the Pain of Periods and PMDD, was released in February. Shalene and I will be talking about the ways authors can get past their fear of conducting interviews when writing about deeply personal material.Watch a recording here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find Gupta's debut and many other books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Shalene Gupta is a reporter whose work has appeared in Fortune, The Atlantic, ESPN, Fast Company, and Harvard Business Review. She is the coauthor of The Power of Trust: How Companies Build It, Lose It, Regain It with Harvard Business School professor Sandra Sucher.  In 2022, she was identified as a thinker to watch out for and made the Thinkers50 Radar list. She's also the host of the Trustonomy podcast. She has an MS from Columbia Journalism School and is a graduate of GrubStreet's Novel Incubator program. Shalene has taught writing classes in the Boston area, and speaks regularly at conferences about trust and diversity issues.Photo by Andrea Cassani on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Today, we hear from Bryan VanDyke, whose debut novel, IN OUR LIKENESS, will be published in September. We're talking to Bryan about what to do when gatekeepers consider your writing “too quiet” and ways an author can make some noise with their new work without sidelining their own vision and style. Watch a recording here. This audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find VanDyke's debut and many other books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Bryan VanDyke is a former staff writer at The Millions. He holds an MFA from Columbia University and a BA from Northwestern. His debut novel, IN OUR LIKENESS is forthcoming from Little A this September. He is also the author of a book-length essay, ONLY THE TRYING: OR, HOW TO LIVE AFTER NOT QUITE DYING, a meditation on the nature of illness and recovery. His fiction has appeared in The Rumpus, Carve and elsewhere. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children.Photo by Kristina Flour on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Today, we hear from Tessa Fontaine whose latest novel, THE RED GROVE, was released in May. We're talking to Tessa about how to bring a shy, attention-avoiding character to life on the page by discovering the many aspects of her situation and her past that gets her moving forward.By the way, on July 19 Tessa will be at Newtonville Books with authors Clare Beams, Rufi Thorpe, and Annie Hartnett. Watch a recording here. This audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find Fontaine's debut novel and many other books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Tessa Fontaine is the author of THE ELECTRIC WOMAN: A MEMOIR IN DEATH-DEFYING ACTS, a New York Times Editors' Choice, Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick, and best book of 2018 by Southern Living, Refinery29, Amazon Editors', and The New York Post. Other writing can be found in Outside, The New York Times, Glamour, AGNI, The Believer, LitHub, Creative Nonfiction, and more. Raised outside San Francisco, Tessa is a former professor and has taught in jails and prisons for five years. She co-founded and teaches the Accountability Workshops with writer and pal Annie Hartnett, and lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with her husband, daughter, goofy dog and sassy cat. THE RED GROVE is her first novel. It is a best book of May from Amazon and People Magazine, and on most anticipated lists from The Rumpus and Alta Magazine.Photo by Artur Rutkowski on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Today, another special bonus episode of our “Listener's Roundup” with Alison Langley, Patricia Manuel Go, and Erica Ferencik. The Listener's Roundup is when we get to hear from some of our listeners about they've learned from the past few episodes, what ideas they consider the most important, what questions or confusions they have, and their own advice and/or experience in dealing with the same issues in their writing. By the way, we still have a couple more open spots for YOU to take part in a listener's roundup. If you're interested, email me at 7amnovelist@substack.com.So today, we've got listeners Alison Langley, Patricia Manuel Go, and Erica Ferencik with us.Watch a recording here. This audio/video version (unedited) is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Patricia Manuel Go is the author of a short story, “Pig,” which was published in the US in the anthology Growing up Filipino 3 (2022)—she has since turned it into a novel with much help from GrubStreet, especially her mentor, Henriette Lazaridis. As a foreign correspondent, Alison Langley freelanced for The Wall Street Journal Europe in Budapest from 1990-94. That experience forms the backdrop of her first novel, Budapest Noir: Ilona Gets A Phone, published by Dedalus Books, UK.Erica Ferencik is the author of the critically acclaimed, bestselling novels, The River at Night and Into the Jungle. Film rights for her latest release, Girl in Ice, have been optioned by Netflix.Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Today we get to hear from Steve Almond, whose latest book on the process of writing, TRUTH IS THE ARROW, MERCY IS THE BOW, was released in April. Steve and I will be talking about writer's block, how to convey a character's inner life, and what that heavy word, ART, might really mean.Watch a recording here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find Almond's new book and many books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Steve Almond is the author of twelve books of fiction and nonfiction, including the New York Times bestsellers Candyfreak and Against Football. His recent books include the novel All the Secrets of the World, which has been optioned for television by 20th Century Fox, and his first novel, co-written with Julianna Baggott, WHICH BRINGS ME TO YOU, is now a major motion picture, filmed with actress Lucy Hale. For four years, Steve hosted the New York Times Dear Sugars podcast with his pal Cheryl Strayed. He is the recipient of a 2022 NEA grant in fiction, and his short stories have been anthologized in the Best American Short Stories, The Pushcart Prize, Best American Erotica, and Best American Mysteries series. He also publishes crazy, DIY books. Photo by Jill Heyer on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Today we get to hear from Kate Woodworth whose novel, Little Great Island, will be released in May of 2025. Kate and I will be talking about managing multiple points of view—the book has eleven!—which she refers to “as playing three dimensional chess in the dark.” Watch a recording here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find Woodworth's debut and many books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Kate Woodworth's first book, Racing into the Dark, came out in 2009 from Dutton and has been optioned for film. Booklist called it “a compelling exploration of mental illness.” She later went into a career as a medical writer before receiving her MFA from Boston University. Her second novel, Little Great Island, will be released in May 2025 from Sibylline Press, a woman-owned independent press publishing work by women over 50.Photo by Taneli Lahtinen on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Today we're talking to three authors—Jean Duffy, Bev Boisseau Stohl, and Laura Beretsky—and the writing group that provided them with the support and encouragement to keep them going. What makes the Page Six Writing Group so special? While usually only 1-2% of writers get their books published, three of its six members published a book in the same year. The Page Six Writing Group also includes writers Susan Schirl Smith, Marcie Kaplan, and Maggie Lowe.Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. BONUS! Today, you'll find a tip sheet from The Page Six Writing Group on this page about making a group like theirs work.Watch a recording here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find the debuts mentioned in this interview and many books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Laura Beretsky is a writer who lives in Somerville with her children, husband and two cats. She recently published Seizing Control: Managing Epilepsy and Others' Reactions to It, a memoir about the challenges facing those who live with perceptible health conditions. Her work has appeared in Health Story Collaborative, The National Library of Poetry, and Cognoscenti. More at https://lauraberetsky.com/published-essays/Bev Boisseau Stohl is a non-fiction writer whose blog grew into Chomsky and Me: A Memoir, (from OR Books) published in July of 2023. Her book tells the story of her 24 years as assistant to linguist, activist, Professor Noam Chomsky at MIT, and the unexpected bond that developed through a shared humor and compassion. You can find Bev with her wife walking her two rescue dogs in Watertown, and at www.instagram.com/ChomskyandMeAMemoir.Jean Duffy is a nonfiction writer whose first book, Soccer Grannies: The South African Women Who Inspire the World (Rowman & Littlefield), was published in 2023. Jean can be found on the soccer field in Lexington, Massachusetts, where her team, the Lexpressas, have been playing for some twenty years. She lives with her husband in Somerville, Massachusetts. More at https://jeanduffy.comPhoto by Chang Duong on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Today we get to hear from Patricia Park whose newest novel, WHAT'S EATING JACKIE OH?, was released in April. Patty and I will be talking about how culture and family influences who we are, what we love, the false expectations others place on us, and how to navigate ever-changing tastes, both that of others and (more importantly) our own.Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find Park's latest novel and many books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Patricia Park is the author of the award-winning adult novel, RE JANE, a Korean American retelling of Brontë's Jane Eyre; and the YA novels IMPOSTER SYNDROME & OTHER CONFESSIONS OF ALEJANDRA KIM and WHAT'S EATING JACKIE OH? She is a tenured professor of creative writing at American University, a Fulbright scholar, an Edith Wharton Writer-in-Residence, and a Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, among other awards. She has written for The New York Times, New Yorker, Guardian, and others. She was born and raised in Queens and lives in Brooklyn. Fun Fact: Patricia is trying her hand at stand-up comedy to research her next novel about an aspiring comic. Follow her “method writing” journey on Instagram. Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Today we get to hear from Kasey LeBlanc whose debut novel, FLYBOY, was released in May. Kasey and I will be talking about pacing and working with different kinds of dual narratives, in particular with how he dealt with moving between the day and night worlds his protagonist exists in.Watch a recording here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find LeBlanc's debut and many books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Born and raised in Massachusetts, Kasey LeBlanc is a graduate of Harvard College, and an alum of GrubStreet's Novel Incubator program, where he was an Alice Hoffman fellow. He was a 2019 finalist for the Boston Public Library's Writer-in-Residence position and has had works published in WBUR's Cognoscenti, them, and Writer Unboxed. His first novel FLYBOY was released from HarperCollins in May.Photo by Karina Carvalho on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Today, we hear from listeners Carol Folbre, Liesl Swogger, and Christine Murphy for a special bonus episode I'm calling our “Listener Roundup.” This is where we get to hear from some of our listeners about they've learned from the past few episodes, what ideas they consider the most important, what questions or confusions they have, and their own advice and/or experience in dealing with the same issues in their writing. Watch a recording here. This audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Dr. Carol Folbre is the author of the nonfiction mixed-media book WISHBONE: AN AMERICAN ODYSSEY IN ASIA by Trinity University Press that launches August 13th, 2024.Liesl Swogger has the finish line in sight(ish) of a rewrite of her novel, A SINGLE SEASON. Think, Billy Elliot set in Houston, TX.Christine Murphy is the author of the forthcoming literary thriller, NOTES ON SURVIVING THE FIRE, from Knopf (February 2025). She spends her non-writing time writing and playing with pets. Photo by Jonathan Beckman on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Photo by Sara Kurfeß on Unsplash This […]

Jen here with two supportive resources for you today ✍

Today you get a sneak peak of what our summer interviews will like. Listeners will also get a chance to be a part of the summer podcast episodes, so listen for announcements about that opportunity in our SubStack notes and on our Facebook page. We're going to start the summer off early (please, yes!) by hearing from Samantha Harvey, who latest novel, ORBITAL, was released in November. Samantha and I will be talking about the dynamic relationship between structure and point of view and how she rediscovered her own late in her drafting process. Samantha will also be at Porter Square Books in Cambridge tomorrow, April 3, at 7pm with author Jamie Quatro, so if you're local to Boston, I encourage you to check it out. I'll be there as well. Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find Harvey's book and many books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Samantha Harvey is the author of five novels, The Wilderness, All Is Song, Dear Thief ,The Western Wind and Orbital. She is also the author of a memoir, The Shapeless Unease. Her novels have been shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction, the Guardian First Book Award, the Walter Scott Prize and the James Tait Black Prize, and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, the Baileys Prize, the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize and the HWA Gold Crown Award. The Western Wind won the 2019 Staunch Book Prize, and The Wilderness was the winner of the AMI Literature Award and the Betty Trask Prize. Orbital, was published in November 2023 by Jonathan Cape (UK) and Grove Atlantic (US). She lives in Bath, UK, and is a Reader in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University.Photo by The New York Public Library on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

The last listener's question in our January series is about joy. We've got authors Suzanne Berne, Shalene Gupta, and Christine Murphy to talk about the good that can be found in the writing process.Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.Check out my interview with AE Osworth about “Joy First Drafting” here.Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page.Suzanne Berne is the author of five novels: her most recent, The Blue Window, released last January, as well as The Dogs of Littlefield, The Ghost at the Table, A Perfect Arrangement, and A Crime in the Neighborhood, which won Great Britain's Orange Prize, now The Women's Prize.  Shalene Gupta is a Boston-area writer and the author of The Cycle: Confronting the Pain of Periods and PMDD, which will be released in February. Christine Murphy is a graduate of GrubStreet's Novel Incubator program. Her debut novel, Notes on Surviving the Fire, is under contract and forthcoming in 2025. Photo by Adrian Moise on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

We've got two very different questions today as we begin to wrap up our January series. The first asks about submitting shorter works to literary magazines and other venues. The second wonders how she can improve her use of subtext. Authors Mark Cecil, Erica Ferencik, and Whitney Scharer help us find the answers.Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page.Mark Cecil is the author of the novel Bunyan and Henry; Or, The Beautiful Destiny, the host of The Thoughtful Bro podcast, and he has taught writing at Grub Street in Boston.Erica Ferencik is the author of the critically acclaimed, best-selling novels The River at Night, Into the Jungle, and Girl in Ice.Whitney Scharer is the author of the international bestselling and award-winning novel The Age of Light as well as short fiction and essays in numerous publications. and she's the co-founder of the Arlington Author Salon in Arlington, MA. Photo by Cristian Tepaz on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Today, we talk about the trials and tribulations of writing from real life: Can I write a memoir if I don't have concrete memories? Am I trying to stay too close to my original experience in turning that experience into a novel? And when does writing fiction based on real life become exploitive of others? Some tough questions, but we've got writers Anjali Mitter Duva, Alex Ferraro, and Ethan Gilsdorf to help us out.Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page.Anjali Mitter Duva is the author of the historical novel Faint Promise of Rain and the co-founder of Galiot Press, a new publishing company ushering in a sea change for the written word.Alex Ferraro is a graduate of the Novel Incubator and is working on his novel, a twisty Texas noir called Like Thunder in the Next County.Ethan Gilsdorf is an essayist, critic, journalist, the author of the memoir Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks and teaches GrubStreet's Essay Incubator program.Photo by Vince Fleming on Unsplash  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

We hear from a writer today who recently got some feedback that her “narrative structure” needed some work. She's dealing with multiple POVs and timelines, so where should she go from here? The question opens up a slew of issues about choices in POV and handling time as well as structure. We've got authors Mark Cecil and Jane Roper to help her figure it all out.Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page.Mark Cecil is the author of the novel Bunyan and Henry; Or, The Beautiful Destiny, the host of The Thoughtful Bro podcast, and he has taught writing at Grub Street in Boston.Jane Roper is the author of  two novels, The Society of Shame and Eden Lake, a memoir, Double Time: How I Survived–and Mostly Thrived–Through the First Three Years of Mothering Twins, numerous personal essays and humor pieces, and a very eclectic Substack, Jane's Calamity.  Photo by Matúš Kovačovský on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Two important questions today from listeners. The first is worried about issues involving writing a series. The second wonders about close third-person point of view. We've got award-winning authors Allison Amend and Hank Phillippi Ryan to help us out.Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page.Allison Amend is the author of four award-winning books, including her short story collection, Things That Pass for Love, and three novels: Stations West, a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award, as well as A Nearly Perfect Copy and Enchanted Islands, both published by Doubleday. Allison lives in New York City, where she teaches creative writing at Lehman College in the Bronx and at the Red Earth MFA.Hank Phillippi Ryan is the USA Today bestselling author of 15 psychological thrillers. She's won five Agathas, five Anthonys, and the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. She is also on-air investigative reporter for Boston's WHDH-TV, with 37 EMMYs and dozens more journalism honors. Her newest is the page-turning standalone thriller, One Wrong Word, which will be released next month.Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

The idea of “interiority” is all the talk these days, but what actually is it? How is it different from exposition and simply telling a reader about a character's thoughts and feelings? How do you access that deeper level of character development and voice from which great interiority comes? We've got two master writers and teachers today to help us out: Dawn Tripp and Christopher BoucherWatch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page.I also recommend the following Substack articles about Interiority, the first from Brandon Taylor and the second from Courtney Maum.Christopher Boucher is the author of the novels How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive, Golden Delicious and Big Giant Floating Head (a 2019 Massachusetts Book Award Finalist). He's also an Associate Professor of the Practice of English at Boston College and the managing editor of Post Road Magazine.Dawn Tripp is the author of the novel Georgia, which was a national bestseller and a finalist for the New England Book Award, and three previous novels: Game of Secrets, Moon Tide, and The Season of Open Water, which won the Massachusetts Book Award for Fiction. Her new novel, Jackie, about Jacqueline Kennedy, will be released in June.Photo by Daniel Jericó on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Revision, it's a monster. It's also an absolute must. And it makes the difference between writers who are able to forge ahead and those who get stuck. But how do you go about it? And how do you avoid feeling like you're doing it all wrong? We've got authors Hesse Phillips (Lightbourne) and Sara Johnson Allen (Down Here We Come Up) on board to help us out.Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.Looking for a writing community? Join our new Facebook group. Hesse Phillips is a Novel Incubator graduate whose debut novel Lightborne, about the mysterious death of queer Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe, comes out in the UK on May 2nd 2024.Sara Johnson Allen is a professor and author whose debut novel, Down Here We Come Up, was the winner of the 2022 Big Moose Prize from Black Lawrence Press. She is currently finishing a second novel and starting a work of creative nonfiction, an exploration of cultural and political history through personal narrative, centering on her 17th century home in coastal Massachusetts.Photo by Jas Min on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Because you do have to end your book at some point, right? Today we've got two questions from listeners, one about figuring out the climax of her book, how to know if she's ending the book “the right way,” and keeping the momentum alive. The second listener wants to write an ending that is both powerful and memorable. We've got authors Colwill Brown (We Pretty Piece of Flesh) and Crystal King (Feast of Sorrow) on board to help us out.Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.Join the 7am Novelist community on our Facebook page: Colwill Brown's debut novel, WE PRETTY PIECES OF FLESH, will be published next spring by Henry Holt (North America), Chatto & Windus (UK & Commonwealth), and Sellerio (Italian trans.).Crystal King is the bestselling author of THE CHEF'S SECRET and FEAST OF SORROW, and the forthcoming novel, IN THE GARDEN OF MONSTERS, out September 24. Photo by Fab Lentz on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

A few years ago, writer Cathy Elcik hit a peculiar obstacle with her first novel: agents loved the writing but thought the subject was too “niche.” They asked: “What else do you have?” But she'd been working so hard on the “niche” novel, that she couldn't give them the answer they wanted. Cathy went deep, trying to understand why publishing a book was so important to her, and she had a few vital epiphanies. Now at work finishing a second book, Cathy still has hopes that her “niche” novel will find its year in the sun, but she's not letting that stop her from working. Process over product. That's the lesson that Cathy learned from her experience, and it's serving her well as she remembers what writing for her is all about.To watch a recording of our interview, click here. These recordings are only available for a week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version of the 7am Novelist on your fave podcast platform.Catherine Elcik is a novelist, short story writer, and essayist. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in Creative Nonfiction, Brevity, Carve Magazine, Narrative, and The Boston Globe among others. She lives outside Boston with her husband and an ever-growing jungle of houseplants, most of them named.Photo by Florencia Viadana on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

We hear from two listeners' questions today: The first worries about knowing if her book is ready enough to begin querying. What does “done” really feel and look like when writing a book? The second talks about an issue that hits home with a lot of writers, though many don't speak about it: The time a single writing project takes to finish can feel overwhelming, but what about trying to launch a whole writing career? And what if loved ones are waiting eagerly for it to happen for you? What if their age means they can only wait so long? We've got authors Kasey LeBlanc (Flyboy), Shalene Gupta (The Cycle), and Sara Shukla (Pink Whales) to help us find some answers.Facebook group link.Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.Kasey LeBlanc (he / him) is a graduate of GrubStreet's Novel Incubator program, a contributor at WriterUnboxed, and the author of FLYBOY, his debut YA novel, which will be published by Balzer + Bray / HarperCollins in May 2024. Shalene Gupta is a Boston-area writer and the author of THE CYCLE: Confronting the Pain of Periods and PMDD.Sara Shukla is an editor for Cognoscenti, WBUR's ideas and opinions page, a graduate of GrubStreet's Novel Incubator, and her novel PINK WHALES is publishing in June 2024 from Little A. Photo by Who's Denilo ? on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

We've got two very different listeners' questions today but they're both common issues for writers to deal with. The first is trying to re-enter a 15-year old memoir manuscript the she needs to cut down enormously (either by 750K words or by 500 pages, depending on our understanding of her question. Either way: A lot!). The second wonders how he's supposed to know what's wrong with his query letter or sample pages when agents these days don't offer a word of feedback. We've got Nancy Crochiere (Graceland), Henriette Lazaridis (Terra Nova), and Ethan Gilsdorf (Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks) to help them out.Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.Nancy Crochiere is a former humor columnist whose comic debut novel, GRACELAND, published in May 2023, was named a best book of summer by Parade, Woman's World, and Deep South Magazines.Henriette Lazaridis is the award-winning author of three novels: her debut The Clover House, the antarctic adventure Terra Nova, and her newest book coming this April, Last Days in Plaka. She is the co-founder of Galiot Press and also runs the Krouna Writing Workshop in northern Greece.Ethan Gilsdorf is an essayist, critic, journalist, the author of the memoir Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks and teaches GrubStreet's Essay Incubator program. Photo by Eugene Chystiakov on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com